Briefly... CITY/REGION

Guilty plea in ACORN case

An ex-ACORN employee who pleaded guilty in Delaware County Court yesterday to submitting 40 fraudulent voter applications was sentenced to six to 23 months of electronic home monitoring and was ordered to perform eight hours of community service.

Jemar Barksdale, 34, of Chester, also was ordered to pay $574 in restitution to ACORN, the Association of Community Organization for Reform Now.

Marine, 102, to be honored

Sgt. Major Alfred DeSerio, a South Philadelphia native who is believed to be the oldest living Marine, will be honored today - his 102nd birthday - at Saint Francis Country House in Darby, where he lives.

DeSerio, who lost his sight to glaucoma, is a decorated veteran of World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam. Gen. James T. Conway, Marine Corps commandant, will conduct a special flag presentation and honors ceremony that is to be attended by several active-duty Marines stationed in Pennsylvania.

School resumes normal hours

John Stetson Middle School will open on time today following yesterday's evacuation due to a nearby fire. The school, at B Street and Allegheny Avenue, Kensington, was evacuated after the building lost power as a result of a fire in the neighborhood.

Students and teachers were bused to other schools during the day and brought back to Stetson for dismissal. Those with questions about the school can call the school district at 215-400-4040.

St. Joe's donating some toms

The staff and administrators of St. Joseph's University today will donate a ton of turkey and all the trimmings to Project HOME, the organization that serves the homeless.

This is the 14th year that the university will donate baskets to the agency. Each year, the drive brings in more than 100 baskets, each of which includes a 15-pound turkey, five pounds of potatoes, cans of vegetables, stuffing mix, gravy, dinner rolls and a pie.

Mother Bethel pastor named

The Rev. Dr. Mark Kelly Tyler has been named the 52nd pastor of historic Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, on 6th Street near Pine.

Tyler has led congregations in California, Missouri, Ohio and New Jersey. He has served as an adjunct professor at Payne Theological Seminary in Ohio and New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Jersey. He succeeds Bishop Jeffrey N. Leath, who is now presiding prelate of the 19th Episcopal District of the AME Church in South Africa.

Death sought in alleged setup

A prosecutor in north-central Pennsylvania is seeking the death penalty for a man accused of setting up the murder of a Philadelphia man from his jail cell.

Lycoming County District Attorney Eric Linhardt filed notice yesterday that he is seeking capital punishment for 25-year-old county prison inmate Maurice Patterson. The man who confessed to shooting Eric Sawyer in a Williamsport alley last year has testified that Patterson ordered him to do so. *

- Staff and wire reports